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Worship Devotion for 6-7-2017

posted Jun 7, 2017, 3:11 PM by Jeff Mashaw

Matthew 17:22–23 (ESV)

22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

Jesus predicted his death and resurrection, and yet his disciples were saddened. They were vexed, or sorrowful. They had been with Jesus for a while and were unaware of the impact of his ministry. They could not comprehend the implications of his death. They were saddened by the possibility of losing their friend. They did not want to see his ministry come to an end. In their minds he was probably just getting started. The thought of him dying must have felt like dusk at the end of an incomplete day. How could it end so fast, how could it be over before he'd fully brought about the kingdom on earth.

And yet, from our perspective, they missed the most significant part of what Jesus said. Jesus did not just predict his death, but his bodily resurrection. This amazing feat is what kicked off the current reality of the kingdom of God; the Church. It was his death and this act of coming back to life that was preached time and again by every apostle and those that came after them. It is what we still preach and teach. It is the reason we worship Sunday after Sunday, Jesus is alive and death is defeated.

But those disciples were saddened and vexed by the truth. How often, is this true today. We become vexed and saddened by situations in our lives before we fully understand the implications. When God leads us to sell all we have and move to a foreign country, we can become saddened if we lost sight of the impact that's possible as a result of this. When God brings sickness, we can become vexed when we lose sight of what He's going to in us and through this.

I believe that many times we fail to take God at His word and trust that everything works together for our good. Even the most catastrophic of circumstances will come together in a way that glorifies God and brings us joy. All it takes is a trust in Jesus and a willingness to see beyond ourselves. We need to look at life the way that God does and we need to trust Him when we can't see beyond today.